Tag: Christian Benford

Sean McDermott provides numbers Bills injury updates, post Dolphins

Not a good day for the #Bills on the injury front:

The Buffalo Bills, quite literally, were beaten up against the Miami Dolphins.

In Week 3, the injury bug bit the Bills during their 21-19 loss. Entering the game, Buffalo was already shorthanded as they missed several starters such as safeties Micah Hyde and Jordan Poyer.

Now the list grows as head coach Sean McDermott updated the health status of several players on Monday, one day following the loss.

Find the full list of updates below:

Bills CB Christian Benford will miss time due to hand injury

#Bills CB Christian Benford will miss time due to hand injury:

The already banged up Buffalo Bills secondary took another blow against the Miami Dolphins.

During the 21-19 loss for the Bills in Week 3, rookie cornerback Christian Benford reportedly suffered a broken hand.

Buffalo head coach Sean McDermott went on to confirm that via video conference on Monday. The coach noted the team is thinking a “couple weeks” in terms of a timetable for Benford, who could have surgery on his hand on Tuesday.

During the game in Miami, Benford was replaced on defense by former undrafted rookie from Buffalo, Ja’Marcus Ingram. Benford continued to contribute on special teams with his injury.

Ingram ended up playing in 56 percent of defensive snaps for the Bills against the Dolphins.

The Benford injury is just the latest in a string of issues to hit Buffalo’s defensive backfield.

At the top, cornerback Tre’Davious White (knee) remains on injury designation for at least one more game. On Saturday, safety Micah Hyde was placed on season-ending injured reserve (neck) while partner Jordan Poyer was a late scratch due to a foot injury.

Bills Wire will continue to provide updates to all injured players throughout the upcoming week ahead of Buffalo’s matchup with the Baltimore Ravens in Week 4.

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Baldy’s breakdowns: Bills’ Christian Benford earns praise (video)

Baldy’s breakdowns: #Bills’ Christian Benford earns praise (video):

Bills cornerback Christian Benford has earned praise around western New York.

Now he is nationally.

NFL Network analyst Brian Baldinger broke down part of Benford’s play against the Titans in his team’s 41-7 win. In particular, he was impressed by the tackle for loss Benford had on running back Derrick Henry.

Check out the full breakdown in the clip below:

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How the Bills can stop the Dolphins’ explosive passing game

The Buffalo Bills’ defense has quite the challenge this Sunday: Stop the Miami Dolphins’ ridiculous passing game. Here’s how the Bills can do it.

It is unclear what the Buffalo Bills collectively thought when they first saw their 2022 regular-season schedule, with the Miami Dolphins as their Week 3 matchup. As Buffalo beat its AFC East rival in both games last season by combined scores of 61-11, perhaps there wasn’t much thought about it at all.

Now, the Bills know exactly what they’ll be facing this Sunday in what is unquestionably the game of the week. The 2-0 Dolphins, under new head coach and offensive shot-caller Mike McDaniel, are just about as hot as the 2-0 Bills after their amazing game against the Baltimore Ravens in which Miami overcame a 21-point halftime deficit to beat Baltimore, 42-38.

The stats in that game were pretty impressive for McDaniel’s team. According to ESPN Stats & Info, it was the first time in 12 years a team has come back from a 21-point deficit in the fourth quarter. Since 2011, NFL teams are 0-711 when trailing by at least 21 points in the fourth quarter. And per NFL Research, the Dolphins were the first team in NFL history to have a player record 400+ passing yards and 5+ passing TDs (quarterback Tua Tagovailoa) in the same game as two teammates recording 170+ receiving yards and 2+ receiving touchdowns (receivers Jaylen Waddle and Tyreek Hill).

Tagovailoa’s six passing touchdowns tied a franchise record and was the most by any NFL quarterback since Patrick Mahomes had six touchdown passes on Nov. 19, 2018 against the Los Angeles Rams.

It got to the point where McDaniel and Tagovailoa were able to quickly communicate on what the head coach called the “F— it” play, which became one of Hill’s two deep touchdowns. 

The Dolphins’ ‘F— it” play vs. the Ravens typified their explosive potential

The Bills have been just as much about great defense as great offense this season (they rank first in Defensive DVOA, while the Dolphins rank second in Offensive DVOA behind the Ravens), but head coach Sean McDermott is well aware of the test his team faces.

“He’s a once in a lifetime player with his speed, and his ability to go after the contested catch,” McDermott said of Hill this week. “They’ve got tremendous speed on offense. They put up points, they do a great job scheme-wise, and Mike does a great job putting them in positions to be successful. So, it’ll be a big challenge for us.”

It’s likely that the matchup between Buffalo’s explosive offense and Miami’s average defense will once again have the Dolphins playing catchup. Here’s how the Bills can prevent what happened to the Ravens happening to them.

All advanced metrics courtesy of Sports Info Solutions, Pro Football Focus, and Football Outsiders unless otherwise indicated).

Bills’ Christian Benford reveals when he found out he’d make first start (video)

#Bills’ Christian Benford reveals when he found out he’d make first start (video):

Bills cornerback Christian Benford knows how to keep a secret.

Prior to facing the Rams on a massive stage on Thursday Night Football in Week 1, Benford was told he’d be making the start well before kickoff.

In fact, he knew for a day or more already.

“I didn’t really find out until the night or two nights before the game,” Benford told the Jim Rome Show. “So what was going through my mind was I wasn’t really thinking. I was just ready to go. I was blessed and happy to be able to start that week and I was just ready to ball out.”

Benford did just that. He notched three tackles, a pass defended and Pro Football Focus noted he only allowed three catches.

Rock solid for a sixth-round rookie.

But Benford was impressed as well. Not in himself, but with the way Bills Mafia supported his team during the 31-10 win.

For more from Benford on Bills Mafia, check out the clip from the Jim Rome Show below:

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Bills vs. Titans: 6 things to watch for during Week 2’s game

#Bills vs. #Titans: 6 things to watch for during Week 2’s game:

The Buffalo Bills continue their regular season journey. The Bills host the Tennessee Titans on Monday Night Football in Week 2.

Once the battle arrives, there will be a few particular things to keep in mind.

Here are six things to watch for during Monday’s Bills-Titans matchup:

Secret Superstars for Week 1 of the 2022 NFL season

Touchdown Wire’s Doug Farrar features Week 1’s great underrated players on his Secret Superstars team.

There are all kinds of reasons that NFL players are underrated.

Perhaps they’re in systems that don’t best show their skills. Maybe they’re buried on a depth chart. Or, they’re in somebody’s doghouse, and their coaches can’t see their potential. Sometimes, young players haven’t quite put it all together, but there are enough flashes to make you sit up and take notice, and when it does work, it’s all good.

Week 1 of the 2022 regular season features players at every position who showed up and showed out despite their underrated statuses, and here at Touchdown Wire, it’s our job to point them out.

Here are the Secret Superstars for Week 1 of the 2022 NFL season.

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Snap counts, PFF grades for Bills rookie CBs Kaiir Elam, Christian Benford

Here’s how things shook out for the #Bills and their rookie CBs vs. the #Rams:

At the starting cornerback spot, the Buffalo Bills had a surprise against the Los Angeles Rams.

It was not first-round rookie Kaiir Elam starting. Instead, it was sixth-rounder Christian Benford.

As the game got rolling, we saw a rotation between the two. Buffalo head coach Sean McDermott went on to say following the 31-10 win things might be different “week-to-week” between the two.

But against the Rams, how did that fully shake out?

Check out snap count and Pro Football Focus statistic comparisons below:

How Von Miller and the Bills took Sean McVay’s Rams offense to the woodshed

The Buffalo Bills’ defense was great in 2021. Now, they’re terrifying, and it may the thing that leads the Bills to the Super Bowl.

To whatever degree you thought about the Buffalo Bills last season, you probably thought more about the offense than the defense. The Bills have an obvious cyborg at quarterback in Josh Allen, Stefon Diggs is on a very short list of the league’s best receivers, and that receiver group is about as deep as any you’ll find in the NFL. Bombs away, but as this team enters the new season, it’s time to talk more about their defense.

And that’s not just because Von Miller is in Buffalo now. That’s a big deal, but in 2021, the Bills ranked first in Defensive DVOA — first against the pass, and 11th against the run. That’s what happens when you have star cornerback Tre’Davious White and an estimable group behind him, and the league’s best safety duo in Jordan Poyer and Micah Hyde.

But the addition of Miller was indeed supposed to put this defense over the top. Last season, the Bills ranked sixth in the NFL with 326 total pressures, but they ranked 10th with 46 sacks. Getting to the quarterback, but not getting home, was the problem that Miller weas supposed to fix.

Based on Buffalo’s defensive performance against the Los Angeles Rams in a 31-10 thrashing Thursday night, we’ll go ahead and say that the plan is working. Matthew Stafford was pressured on 19 of his 50 dropbacks, and he was sacked seven times. Stafford threw one of his three interceptions when under pressure, but the real big deal here was the ability of the Bills’ defense to close the deal. Everything else that happened for the Bills defensively worked off of that new factor.

Why? Because the Bills were able to do the most terrifying thing any defense can do — they got all their sacks without having to commit extra defenders to do it.

So, the Bills, without the injured Tre’Davious White, were able to torment Stafford and everybody else playing in Sean McVay’s offense, making the defending Super Bowl champs look like an expansion team. No team in pro football history had ever recorded at least three interceptions, at least seven sacks, and no punts in the same game, until the Bills on Thursday night.

We’ve already gotten into how Buffalo’s killer offense didn’t have to punt. Here’s how the defense did all that other stuff.